The host
by Anifan1
Summary: Prequel to Broken. Final chapter. Jason gets a new Yeerk after escaping possibly the most evil Yeerk in the galaxy.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs. They belong to Scholastic and KAA. No copyright infringements intended. Please don't sue.

I do own Jareth 572 and Jason. If you want to use them, please ask me in advance. I won't sell them, but I am willing to let people borrow these characters under certain conditions.

Spoilers for #19. This takes place before #29 (The Sickness) came out.

It was a dark and stormy night when I joined the Sharing.

Actually, it was during the day. But it was dark, and it was stormy.

My name is Jason. I'm fourteen years old. I'm relatively normal. I have a mom, a dad, a sister, and a brother. We also have a dog, but he's really old and I seriously think he's going to die soon. But that's not important.

When I joined the Sharing, I thought it was just a coed club like the boy scouts or the girl scouts. It seemed to be family oriented, but my family was busy with their own lives and didn't get involved. It was one of the teachers at my school who told me about the Sharing. Mr. Tidwell.

I went to a few of the meetings, and it looked like fun, so I decided to try and become a full member. When they mentioned that there would be an alien living inside of my brain, I didn't freak out. I guess I'm weird, but I have heard of worse things than an alien slug living inside your head.

Besides, it would probably be fun. Like living with a roommate in college, except I was in eighth grade and this roommate would be sharing my brain as well as my room.

I also didn't think that the Sharing would take no for an answer.

So I shrugged it off, agreed to become a Controller, and waited patiently as the Yeerk crawled into my head and began to take over. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I guess I assumed that the Yeerk would be happy that I was voluntary and would become a friend. This sort of needed to happen, since we would be living together for an indefinite amount of time.

The Yeerk had other plans.

_Hi,_ I greeted. _My name is Jason._

_Shut up. I have no desire for you to speak. If I want information from you, I will extract it from your brain, and I will do so painfully. I am your master, and you are my slave. You are a mindless puppet. I will crush you so thoroughly that you will be unable to rebel against me after the first feeding._

I tried to lighten the mood. _Someone needs a nap._

_Silence!_

He opened his memories to me and showed violent images. Weird aliens dying, lots of strange guns being used. Lots of blood.

I may be a boy, but I can't stand the sight of blood.

He knew that.

He replayed these images for about ten minutes. He only stopped when I started to grow faint.

_If you address me in such a disrespectful way again,_ he threatened, _that will seem very pleasant compared to what I will put you through. Do you understand?_

_Yes,_ I whispered. What had just happened to me? Why was there this grumpy sadist living inside my head? Surely all Yeerks couldn't be this bad.

_Silence!_ he shouted again. _I know all of your thoughts. You can keep nothing from me. You will pay, severely, for any disobedient thought that crosses your mind for even a hundredth of a second._

I tried to keep my mind blank.

_My name is Jareth 572,_ he told me. _You will fall to your knees in agony whenever you hear this name. I will torture you, and I will break you. You will no longer exist after a few weeks. You may not even last that long._

I tried to keep my mind blank.


	2. Chapter 2

Responses to reviewers:

Meow: This takes place _before_ Broken. That means that Jareth controlled Jason before Daisy, and it's assumed that he was Jareth's host directly before Daisy. Based on what happens to Jason is how Jareth deals with Daisy. As a result, it would make sense that Jareth would use caution with Daisy and not tell her his name, while with Jason he was a little more unguarded. I hope the story continues to make some sense…the point of the story is to enlighten the readers about Daisy's experience, not confuse the readers. And yes, Jareth is just a total jerk like that. He's also very egotistical.

Genesisdragon: Shh, don't tell that to Jareth. He gets cranky easily, as you can imagine. ;)

AllOrNone: You'll find that out, though it probably won't be explicit. Like I said, Jason came before Daisy, so Jareth deals with Daisy based on his experience with Jason.

Kelptic183: Thanks!

Scarab Dynasty: It's not over yet. :) Glad you enjoyed, though.

Myitt: I think "egotistical jerk" is about the nicest thing that you can say about Jareth without inserting curse words into the description.

My usual "rule", so to speak, applies here: I will try to update once a week, but I will definitely start the next chapter as soon as I get five reviews. This means you can except a chapter a day or so after the fifth review comes in. This is subject to change based on my schedule and my inspiration, but I also think that this piece will be significantly shorter than Broken. I'm guessing less than seven chapters, maybe around five.

Okay, onto the next chapter…

The next few days were not pretty. Apparently, Jareth seemed to hold the notion that leaving me to my own thoughts was just as bad as letting me have control. He kept my mind very occupied with images. Usually bad ones, sometimes fantasies of power.

Also fantasies of torture that he would use on my family.

The last one made me the angriest, but if I even started to so much as snap, Jareth would make what he put me through on a regular basis seem pleasant. I did not know what kind of tortures existed until I had Jareth in my mind. I did not know half of the punishments that he used on me even existed before I experienced them.

I won't go into details. I remember them pretty well, and now I can look back on them and just cringe, instead of screaming and running in the opposite direction.

I would say another way that I'm able to remember what happened and actually laugh, but then there would be no point in my telling the rest of the story.

By the end of the first day, I was emotionally exhausted. I was beaten, drained. Jareth managed to put me through what felt like hell in a matter of hours. I had no idea how I would be able to survive weeks of this. Months of this. Death would be pleasant compared to this.

Of course, I believe in an afterlife, but even if there was nothing, it would seem pleasant compared to what I was enduring.

According to most involuntary Controllers, there's nothing worse than having an alien living inside of your head, controlling your every move, and having access to all of your memories.

They have no idea how lucky they are.

By the time the third day came around, it felt like a small miracle. I knew that Jareth would need to feed because they had mentioned that to me at the Sharing meeting when they made me a full member. I would have a couple of hours of mental freedom before Jareth came back.

I would need that time to recuperate. The last three days had been torturous. Jareth wouldn't even let me sleep. Not for long periods of time, anyway. He never tried to control my dreams, so I guessed that he couldn't, but he enjoyed screaming at me while my mind was trying to rest.

I wondered if this was how Yeerks felt when their involuntary host just _wouldn't_ shut up.

Jareth waited as long as possible before going to feed. As a result, the levels of torture grew, because he was starting to feel hungry and was taking it out on me. At the same time, every second he delayed was a second longer that I was in mental pain. He didn't want to give that up.

At last, we made it to the Yeerk pool. At last, that filthy slug crawled out of my head.

I didn't scream, and I didn't run. I knew that if I gave myself a sore throat from screaming, Jareth would make me pay for that. And if the Hork-Bajir guards needed to stun me or use physical force, Jareth would also make me pay for that.

The only thing to do was walk silently to the cages, keep my mouth shut, and wait for the next few hours while enjoy being able to move by myself and think for myself.

I paid attention to the reinfestation line. I noticed that it usually took about two minutes between the person's head being shoved in the water and the person's body becoming calm enough for the Hork-Bajir guards to let them go.

It occurred to me that if I acted quickly, I could pretend to be infested and leave the Yeerk pool without a Yeerk.

I knew that this was my only shot, because once Jareth came back, he would know what I had done and would take measures to prevent it in the future.

If my plan failed and Jareth returned, I did not want to imagine his reaction.

But if my plan worked…it was definitely worth the risk.

I waited in the cage, completely still and silent, until the Hork-Bajir guards came and dragged me to the line for the reinfestation pier.


	3. Chapter 3

I studied the other involuntary Controllers as I waited in line. It seemed pretty simple. They were moving around and then stopped when the Yeerk took over. I would just need to act like the Yeerk had taken over before Jareth actually entered my head.

I hoped he was a slow swimmer.

Meanwhile, of course, I made a lot of noise. I said a few things that I probably shouldn't have, but my parents weren't around and I hoped that Jareth wouldn't be back and make me pay for them. He had made it very clear that he would punish me for anything I did while he was outside of me.

Before long, it was my turn. One of the Hork-Bajir grabbed the right side of my head and pushed it underwater. I made a big deal about screaming and moving around. I waited until the Yeerk who I assumed was Jareth was just a foot or so away from my ear. I relaxed and stated, annoyed, "I am in control now."

The Hork-Bajir who had been pushing my head under water now helped me up. I couldn't believe that I had managed to get away with it, but I knew that I still needed to make it through the rest of the Yeerks.

I walked past the pool, trying to keep a calm expression on my face. I wanted to start laughing hysterically, but I knew that this would be suicide. I bit down on my tongue, pretty hard but not hard enough to draw blood, until I was out of the Yeerk pool area.

I was safe. More importantly, I was free.

I walked home, fully expecting the Yeerks to appear at any minute and start attacking. It didn't happen. I had actually gotten away with this. Me, Jason, who can't even get away with passing notes in class.

This was pretty major.

Of course, I realized soon enough that I'd have to go back to the Yeerks. Otherwise, they would find me and probably kill me. If they didn't kill me, they would infest me, and I didn't like to think what kind of a Yeerk they would put in someone who escaped the Yeerk pool. I liked being free, but I was more interested in staying alive and staying sane. This meant I would need a Yeerk who was relatively decent.

Or at least a Yeerk who didn't believe in mental torture except on special occasions.

Well, better would be a Yeerk who didn't torture me at all, but I couldn't afford to be picky.

My parents must have noticed that something was wrong because my mom noted, at dinner, that I seemed quiet. She was probably right; it was because I was thinking. I didn't actually _say_ this; instead I made up some stuff about not feeling too well.

"Do you want to miss school tomorrow, Jason?" my mom asked, putting a hand on my forehead. "You feel a little warm."

Normally, I'd jump at the chance to miss school, but this seemed too risky. I needed to get in touch with Tidwell tomorrow…hopefully his Yeerk was at least reasonable and he would try to reassign me to a nicer Yeerk.

Judging by Jareth's emotions, I definitely could not go to Chapman about the Yeerk problem.

I shrugged. "I'll be okay. Maybe the day after…I have a test that I want to miss."

My mom rolled her eyes. "Nice try."

That night, I couldn't sleep. I kept tossing and turning. As glad as I was to be rid of Jareth, and as much as I did not want him inside my head again, I was not sure if my new idea would work.

Maybe I should just ask Tidwell to have the Yeerks kill me if they were planning on giving me another Yeerk like Jareth.

Sometime after 1AM, I managed to drift off a little. I almost overslept, probably because of my insomnia the night before, but my mom woke me up by banging on the door repeatedly.

Classes were hard. I couldn't concentrate. I planned what I was going to say to Tidwell. I figured I would try to see him during lunch.

Finally, lunchtime was there and I managed to find my teacher without running anyone down or freaking out in front of anyone.

I approached him in the hallway.

"Mr. Tidwell?" I asked.

"Yes, Jason?"

"Could I talk to you for a moment?"


	4. Chapter 4

Responses to reviewers:

I forgot to respond to the reviewers for chapter two, so I'm including all of them here now. The only exception is if you responded to both chapters...then I'll write a general response since your comment may have already been addressed in the past chapter.

Myitt: Thanks and I really appreciate your reviews.

GenesisDragon: Hope this qualifies as "soon."

Kelptic: You shall soon find out. This will be a short story, though, although Jason will make an appearance in Broken at some point.

Meow: There's a reason Jason's going to Tidwell and not Chapman. He's not exactly in the best possible situation, but he is aware of the fact that, chances are, he's going to be dead or reinfested soon enough.

Onto the next chapter...

"Of course. Follow me."

He led me into an empty classroom and shut the door.

"How can I help you, Jareth?" he asked once we were inside.

"It's not Jareth," I explained. "I escaped. It's just Jason."

Tidwell raised his eyebrows. "I see."

"Jareth was a torturer. I managed to trick the Hork-Bajir at the Yeerk pool," I blundered on. "I don't have a problem with being a Controller, but Jareth is evil incarnate."

Okay, maybe I was getting a little carried away. But the events of the last four days were still very much on my mind.

"You escaped...and you are willing to return for reinfestation with another Yeerk?" Tidwell/the Yeerk clarified.

"Yes. As long as the new Yeerk doesn't...I mean, they can't all be like Jareth, right?"

"I don't know your old Yeerk. He might be typical of Yeerks," Tidwell explained. "Many humans have trouble, at first. You might not find a better Yeerk your second time around."

"He wouldn't even let me think what I wanted. He just replayed bad memories, and images that he had of torturing other people and my family, every single second. He wouldn't even let me sleep," I tried to explain.

Why was this so hard to say? Maybe because Tidwell was also a Controller. Maybe because I wasn't a huge fan of writing papers and giving debates. Or maybe it was just because I couldn't really put into words what I had been through.

"Most Yeerks aren't like that," Tidwell admitted.

"What are most Yeerks like?" I pressed. "I mean, obviously I have no choice because I'll either be reinfested or killed, but I want to have a frame of reference."

"Well, we don't usually monitor Yeerks inside their hosts, but the general belief is that humans are below Yeerks. Most Yeerks ignore their hosts if they start to threaten. There are some harmonious relationships, probably just with the hosts who are voluntary. The Yeerk maintains complete control at all times, but is physically capable of allowing the host to have some control. It's highly discouraged, and lethal in Yeerk settings. About 2/3 of all hosts are involuntary. Most Yeerks do not use means of mental punishment except as that. Yeerks usually either ignore their hosts or converse with their hosts."

The description didn't exactly sound great, but it had to be better than what Jareth had put me through. Besides, this was one Yeerk speaking. There would be some kind of bias there. Maybe Tidwell's Yeerk was one of the nicer/average ones. There was no reason to assume that his description didn't have at least some degree of truth in it.

"I started out voluntary. I'd like to stay that way," I emphasized.

"After school, I will give you a ride to the Sharing. We will pretend that you are a new member and about to become a full member. I will try to make sure the Yeerk that's assigned to you is endurable."

"That sounds fair."

"In the meantime, say nothing to Innis 226. Pretend to be infested at all times. You will receive a new Yeerk this afternoon, and that Yeerk will have a cover story. Your old one will be given another host."

"Can't we just kill Jareth?" I complained. "He's too cruel for anyone. Even my next door neighbor."

Tidwell shook his head. "I'm afraid that we can't do that. Not without due cause. But your next Yeerk will probably be better than he was, if what you say is true," he added in a somewhat reassuring tone.

"Okay. I should get to lunch."

"Meet me in front of the school's main parking lot at 4:00. My host's car is dark blue," the Yeerk instructed.

"Hopefully nothing will happen before then."

"It shouldn't. It usually takes a few days before they notice if a Yeerk is missing. You are probably the first one to escape the Yeerk pool, but you'll also be the last. Once they see what happened, they'll pay much closer attention."

I nodded. "See you at four."


	5. Chapter 5

1Responses to reviewers: Probably just Jareth has this information, and he's currently hostless.

GenesisDragon: That would be too mean to do. :)

AllOrNone: Thanks. This is the final chapter.

Onto the final chapter...

The rest of the day went by fairly quickly, which was surprising but probably happened because I was nervous. Classes got out at 2:30, so I spent the following hour and a half in the library, doing my homework. At 3:55, I left the library and head outside.

I recognized the car fairly quickly from how Tidwell had described it. It was the only blue car in the parking lot.

He pulled up to the curve, slowed down, and honked. I opened the door to the back seat and put on my seatbelt.

We didn't say much during the whole trip. I guess there was nothing _to_ say. At one point, I asked if he knew who my new Yeerk would be, but Tidwell said that he didn't know. Since I would be initiated into the Sharing that day, I would get some random Yeerk who was in between hosts. I was a little uncomfortable with how much chance went into the whole thing, I reasoned that my new Yeerk couldn't be worse than Jareth.

It was impossible.

Of course, if my new Yeerk was bad, there would be no escaping. Then again, the Yeerks probably would kill or infest me after a few days, anyway, so there didn't seem to be a better option.

We arrived at the Sharing around 4:30. A regular meeting was going on, so we needed to wait for that to end. After that was over, Tidwell took me to the Yeerk pool.

"You just need to put your ear in the pool and a Yeerk will take over," Tidwell explained. "The new Yeerk will pretend that he was your old one until your old one gets a new host."

I laughed. "Sounds a little confusing."

"It's just in front of some of the Yeerks in charge of infestation. Most Yeerks won't have any idea what happened."

"Okay."

I knelt down and put my ear to the pool. It occurred to me that I could pull the same stunt that I had pulled before, but the end result would still be the same.

A minute later, I felt something touch my ear. I started to feel pain, but then the Yeerk must have sprayed some kind of painkiller because then the pain deadened.

This was a good sign. Jareth hadn't used any kind of painkiller when he had first infested me.

I felt myself start to lose control of my body, but it was very slow and gradual. Almost gentle, if you could consider someone being gentle while they took over your body.

_Hello?_ I asked after the Yeerk had connected.

_Voluntary. Good,_ was the response. _I hate involuntary Controllers._

I gave a mental nod.

_I'm Ackbar 572,_ the Yeerk explained. _What's your name?_

_Jason._

He began to sort through my memories. Not painfully, as Jareth had done on so many occasions. Just curiously.

_Your first Yeerk was a real jerk,_ Ackbar told me. _I'm glad you were able to escape him._

_Will he be back?_ I wondered as he nodded to Tidwell and began to walk past the cages and past the Yeerk pool.

_I'll make sure that he doesn't return,_ Ackbar promised. _I'm glad that you realized that not all Yeerks are like that._

_After him, any Yeerk would have been better,_ I explained. _I didn't see how anything could be worse._

_He probably is the worst type of Yeerk,_ Ackbar confirmed. _We're not all like that. I'm a member of a group that prefers to take voluntary hosts, but most Yeerks would be alarmed by his behavior._

_Maybe he got teased as a kid?_

_As a grub, you mean,_ Ackbar corrected, with a laugh. _It's possible._

_So, what are the rules?_ I asked. _What can I expect?_

_Partial control, mainly in private but if you prove to need to perform your daily functions, then that can be arranged. No torture unless you are extremely unreasonable, but this shouldn't happen. I will look through your memories but you will be able to see mine as well._

This sounded more than reasonable.

_Deal,_ I agreed.

Things were going to turn out okay after all.


End file.
